


Baby Steps

by wwillowisp



Category: Made in Abyss (Anime)
Genre: Age Play, Implied Forcefem, Mommy Kink, Non-Sexual Age Play, Other, Self-Loathing, nonbinary marulk, ozen has a little secret
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-26 22:01:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18725845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wwillowisp/pseuds/wwillowisp
Summary: Once Marulk had bandaged Ozen’s wound and applied the watershrooms, they helped her shuffle toward her quarters and lie down.“Here, Master, I brought some soup. You should eat.”“I’m not hungry. Bring me meat,” Ozen muttered.“Don’t be so difficult, Master. Here,” Marulk said, raising the spoon to Ozen’s lips. She reluctantly sipped at the warm broth.“How is it, Master?”“Mm.”“Mmm?”“It’s good... Thank you, Marulk.”“That’s my good girl.”





	Baby Steps

Marulk wiped the sweat from their brow. Foraging was hard work. They had already amassed most of their checklist for today — herbs for everything from healing salves to monster bait to spice for the night’s dinner. Marulk instinctively checked for their whistle and knife. This area was relatively safe, of course, being cleared out and cultivated for the purpose, but one always needed their guard up out in the Abyss.

Just a few more plants to track down... oh, and one that wasn’t on the list, something special for Master. Marulk spotted an unassuming patch of teardrop leaves out of the corner of their eye and got to work. 

—

Marulk got back to the seeker camp with plenty of sunlight left. The laundry from this morning would be dry by now, so they dropped the sack of herbs by the kitchen, and walked up the stairs to the top decks. Humming absentmindedly, they pulled over the basin and stepstool and began pulling down the bed sheets and folding them neatly. They unpinned Master’s spare outfit and, checking there was no one around to see, buried their face in it and inhaled deeply. 

—

Marulk tottered down to the kitchen with the full clothes basin and set it aside. Master would be back from her rounds soon, and she would be expecting dinner to be ready. Plus, Marulk needed to take their medicine. They dropped a handful of leaves from the morning’s forage along with some dried herbs from the cupboard and some fresh water into a tea kettle, then started a fire on the stove. While this steeped, they poured a shot of a foul and acrid smelling yellow liquid. Marulk knew better than to question Master’s whims, but their daily dose of pregnant neritantan urine was frankly both disgusting and humiliating. They had taken to chasing it with a swig of Zapo’s awful moonshine — which tasted horrid itself, but nothing else came close to masking the flavor. 

The kettle began to whistle, so Marulk carefully pulled it off the heat and set it on a cloth trivet. The Flora had said it should be ready to drink after about ten minutes, which would also give it time to cool. Marulk busied themself sweeping the floor and gathering up the boys’ dirty dishes from the night before. Once the tea was finished, they poured a cup and pulled up a chair by the window, looking out below on the majesty of the Great Tree. 

Marulk’s mind wandered as they sipped at the warm tea. The flavor was mild but pleasant, and a bit sweet. It never ceased to amaze them how many herbs with such varied effects could be found in such a remote place. But since Master had assigned the herbal regimen, their chest had definitely become more tender, and their... well, never mind about what else.

This new herb they were instructed to gather was said to be popular among new mothers in the slums, where malnutrition often affected their ability to properly feed their newborns. The plant, native to the second layer, was actually quite common, but expensive at the surface due to the delvers’ tight control over the supply. Still, th—

A loud crash outside startled Marulk out of their musing, so they quickly gulped down the rest of the tea and smoothed out their apron as they walked toward the front. That would be Master, back sooner than expected.

—

Following the noise and shouting, Marulk poked their head in to Master’s office, ducking just in time to miss a chair flying in their direction and splintering into pieces against the wall behind them. 

“FUCK! Marulk, god damn it, Marulk, augh god, where is that good-for-nothaaaaAAAHGH GOD”

Marulk crept into the room to see their Master’s room an awful mess, her helmet embedded in a bookcase that had just been repaired and her armor strewn all about on the floor. Ozen herself had flopped into a chair and had one hand pressed firmly into her stomach’s left side. Her uniform looked torn and Marulk could see quite a bit of blood wicking out from the wound.

“Master, you’re hurt!”

“Very—gh—observant, my young charge. What ever could have tipped you off?”

“Here, let me get the bandages and some salve.”

“It’s fine. Just a scratch. Won’t kill me — augh, I should be so lucky.”

“It won’t, but it’ll hurt, and it’ll hurt longer if we don’t treat it properly. Now let me see it, Master.” Marulk strained to pull Ozen’s hand away from the wound, revealing a thick, broken-off quill embedded deep in her side. “An orb piercer, really? You’ve been hunting these things for decades.”

“Ow ow don’t— don’t touch it. It’s tender.”

“It’s poison, we need to get it out. I think I have some parasitic watershroom around here somewhere. With your constitution, if we take care of this quickly you should only need a few days’ rest. Now,” Marulk said, as they yanked the quill out in one smooth motion. 

“AaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAUUUUGHHHHH DAMN IT MARUL—“

“Shh, it’s over now, shhhhhh, it’s all right. Here’s salve for the pain, Master, and I’ll be right back with the watershroom.” Ozen slumped into her chair as Marulk ran off. 

—

Once Marulk had bandaged Ozen’s wound and applied the watershrooms, they helped her shuffle toward her quarters and lie down. 

“Here, Master, I brought some soup. You should eat.”

“I’m not hungry. Bring me meat,” Ozen muttered.

“Don’t be so difficult, Master. Here,” Marulk said, raising the spoon to Ozen’s lips. She reluctantly sipped at the warm broth.

“How is it, Master?”

“Mm.”

“Mmm?”

“It’s good... Thank you, Marulk.”

“That’s my good girl.”

—

Ozen ate the rest of the soup in peace, wincing occasionally as she shifted her weight.

“Poor dear, does it still hurt?”

“It hurts so bad... Make it stop..."

"Aw, honey... We've done all we can." Marulk looked on sympathetically as Ozen moaned. "The medicine should take effect by tomorrow morning. Can you be strong for me tonight, sweetie? Can you be Ma-ma's tough little girl?" Marulk stroked their master's hair delicately.

"Nnn... Yes, m... ma-ma..." Ozen said, a bit of red intruding on her pale white cheeks.

"That's a good girl... My, you worked so hard out there today."

"I did, mama... I was doing really good... Until that stupid orb-piercer went and--" Ozen winced. She was getting agitated, stirring in her bed and disturbing her wound.

"Shh, shh, it's okay now, sweetie. You're here safe with me now. That mean old bug can't hurt you anymore," Marulk said, hugging Ozen's head tight to their chest. "Now, go ahead and tell mama what happened."

Ozen sniffled. "Th, there was a relic... just sitting in one of the pools... some mid-grade junk... I ordered Simred to go fetch it, when I noticed the orb piercer coming up from the other side. There was no time so I, so I--"

"Shh, shhhhh, easy, sweet baby, it's okay now."

"It was stupid and I deserved it. I deserve to suffer like this."

"Honey, no. You were protecting Simred. You did so good, sweetie."

"But it huuuuuurtsssssss," Ozen whined.

Marulk climbed up into the bed and nuzzled their face into Ozen's hair. "There, there, love, shhhh, it'll be okay, shhhhh... Mama's got you..."

"Nnnnmmnnnnn... mamaaaaa..."

Marulk quietly hummed an old cave raider song in Ozen's ear while they lazily stroked her hair. Ozen wrapped her arms tight around them. Her breathing started to slow and deepen as she drifted off to sleep, cradled in her tiny charge's embrace.


End file.
